Broadcast station logger and printout system

ABSTRACT

A system for providing a printed log of program materials broadcast by a broadcast station, wherein data taken from a clock, from a programmed sequence controller, and from recorded program material sources is assembled and printed in the real time sequence in which the various source materials were commenced, the disclosure further including means for efficiently tagging the recorded sources with the data necessary to provide a complete printed log.

quence in hich the various source materials were commenced.

ry to 1 1 Sept. 25, 1973 5/1972 Low et 10/1972 Schafferum ll/l965Manningi.....t..,..... 5/1970 Reynolds, Jr et ABSTRACT g of programmateriation, wherein data from a programmed sequence congram materialsources is g means for efficiently 12 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PrimaryE.taminer-Paul J. Henon Assistant Examiner-Paul R. Woods An0rneyArthurE. Dowell, Jr. et al.

A system for providing a printed 10 als broadcast by a broadcast sttaken from a clock, troller, and from recorded pro assembled and printedin the real time se w the disclosure further includin tagging therecorded sources with the data necessa provide a complete printed log.

LOGGER [Fig 6,? undSl 2 BX 5 32 27 H 0 4 3 340/1725 G06k 3/00, GOSb19/00 t. 340/1725 BROADCAST STATION LOGGER AND PRINTOUT SYSTEM Inventor:Gary M. Flynn, Atlanta. Ga. Assignee: Broadcast Products, Inc.,Rockville,

Filed: Aug. 3, 1972 Appl. No.: 277,492

lnt. Field of Searchmm.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Bumstead et a1. Wright et 350.687Gabrielson et all 344,408 Singer ct a1.,.......i. 624111 Wirsing.....i.

,eseJmes, 1 1 TRANSMITTER United States Patent Flynn CONTROLLER AUDIOPROGRAMMED SEQUENCE [AR 36E CASSETTE SOU RC E Q Fwy F m Q a m A O .1 E o1 1 t H we 1 1 gdnq oompzqu SOURCE PATENTEU 5925 SHEET 1 BF 6 PRINTER(Fig. 6.7 ondB) TRANSMITTER 053 n 0 6528 m o S m 2 3 w R m 063 c A cIRE-LE d. r m 6528 m It P rmlllllo 6 A||O l m m f mm m S R W EN N m A oCARTRIDGE CASSETTE SOURCE SOURCE PATENIED E Z 3.761 .888

sum 2 or 6 Fig.3

a3 a4 8 a 2 2% 2%; TAB

NCA

PROGRAM CONTENT/SPONSOR DURATION ROYALTY OR BILUNG DATA Fig.4

T s ?T s 882M879 219% 4% ([5709] a 4 cuas RTRIDGE LIVE SOJRCE PROGRAMTYPE IIIIIIIITTIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHTT EIGHT- BIT CHARACTER Fig.5

PATENTEU Z 8.181.888

SHEET 30F 6 CARTRIDGE DECODER REEL-REEL DECODE BINARY SERIAL TO BINARYSERIAL TO DATA PARALLEL DATA PARALLEL RECOGNIZE CONVERT RECOGNIZECONVERT DATA 4 PAUSE I09I INPUT GATES STEPPER CONTROL ENABLE LOGIC IO'ENABLE SEQUENCE CTR.

STEP

IF. M.)

F I X E D M ESSAGE GE NERATOR H9 (ED) FIXED DATA SOURCE DECODERFORMATTER SOURCE EEZE REAL E REAL TIME PAIENTED5EP25I975 3.781.888

SHEET I BF 6 NO DATA '69 DE E 1s ADDRESSED BUFFER '70 MEMORY "FULLOUTPUT Cl RCUIT RECOGNIZE BUFE MEM.

ADDRESS INHIBIT 22 CLOCK COUNTER 2g) BUFFER MEMORIES MPX REEL- TO REELMPX

CARTRIDGE PATENTEDSEPZSIQH SHEET 5 BF 6 PRINTER PAPER SILENCE SENSOR JAIR MONITOR PRNTER 3 303 me CONTROL :5 23s PRINTER BusY CLOCK =3 CONVERTTO 307 PRINTING cone SELECTOR 3|8 CLK PRINTER ADDRESSED REGISTER BUFFERMEMORY BROADCAST STATION LOGGER AND PRINTOUT SYSTEM This inventionrelates to a system for logging and printing in natural language formata record of the entire content of the programs of a radio station,eventby-event, in the chronological order in which they are broadcast,the system having particular utility with respect to, but not limitedto, the logging of the program content of automated broadcast stations.The disclosure also includes a novel way of cueing recorded sources withlogging data.

Most of the radio programming which is broadcast at the present time iseither pre-recorded or is taken from network lines, and only a smallproportion of the programming is live. The recorded content is generallytaken from tapes which are played by various types of automatic tapemachines, including reel-to-reel tape transports and/or cartridge andcassette machines which automatically handle and play one of many storedcartridges or cassettes selected by addressing a particular machine toplay whatever tape unit is stored at a certain one of its compartmentsor trays. These tapes usually have two or more recording tracks on them.For instance, the reel-to-reel tapes often have two tracks which can beused as right and left stereo channels or which, in a mono system, canhave one selection recorded for play in one tape-motion direction and adifferent selection for play when the tape is driven in the otherdirection. Most cartridges, according to standards set by the NationalAssociation of Broadcasters, not only have audio tracks, but also haveone additional and separate track known as a cueing track. Stereocartridges therefore have three tracks. Both reel-to-reel and cartridgetypes of tape are used in broadcast stations, and these tapes aregenerally provided with start" and stop" signals which mark thebeginnings and endings of the materials recorded on the tapes for thepurpose of automatically controlling the tape machines at the properinstants. Usually reelto-reel machines are used as sources of recordedmusic or lengthy pre-recorded programs, and since they usually do nothave a separate cueing channel, the cueing signals are recorded in onechannel, generally the left channel after the recorded material hasconcluded. However, where identification data is also included, it hasbeen the practice to record the data over the audio in one channel usingsuperimposed supersonic frequencies. On the other hand, the cartridgetapes are generally used for recording not only musical selections butmost of the commercials, the station-breaks including the FCC. callletters and station location, the time signals, various special eventmessages and announcements, etc. Since the cartridge tapes have separatecueing tracks or channels, the cueing signals as well as theidentification tags are recorded therein. It is the general practice inthe industry to record these tags near the beginnings of the recordedmaterials which they identify. It is one object of the presentdisclosure to teach a technique wherein, with respect to thereel-to-reel two-channel tapes, these are cued and identified after oneselection of the recorded material has been concluded, and before thenext is commenced.

In automated stations, the present practice for control of the station,whatever the manner of cueing and identifying the tapes, is to have thecueing signals read from the tapes and delivered to some type ofprogrammed control system, which in the case of an automated stationtakes the form of an automatic sequencer which automatically turns onthe various sources from which the program material is to be takenaccording to a preset sequence, also switching the audio appropriately,and then changes to the next source in the sequence when the cueingsignal of the preceding source indicates the end of the message. Theautomatic sequencer also receives real-time clock input from a clocksource and interrupts the sequence at appropri ate times, i.e. on thehour and the half-hour, for station breaks, time signals, weathersummaries, and/or network materials. Automatic sequencers are in generaluse at the present time and are manufactured by several differentcompanies to perform approximately as outlined above.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide an improvedautomatic system for accepting data from the various sources of materialbeing broadcast, organizing it into the chronological sequence in whichit actually went on the air, and printing a log of the material actuallybroadcast along with the real time at which the broadcast messagecommenced, such printing being in the form of the natural-spokenlanguage as distinguised from a machine-language.

Another major object of the invention is to provide a system in whichthe real time sequence of broadcast is preserved in the log even thoughthe identification tags on the tapes may be read into the systemchronologically out of the sequence in which they were actuallybroadcast, it being noted from the above background discussion that,where for example a reel-toreel tape selection is immediately followedby a cartridge selection which may even overlap it somewhat as in ahard-rock" format of broadcast, it is likely that the tag near thebeginning of the cartridge selection may be read at an earlier time thanthe tag which follows the preceding reelto-reel tape selection, or itmay even be read concurrently therewith. There are other ways in whichthe logger system may be fed data in a real time succession whichdiffers from the actual broadcast sequence, but in any event this datamust be temporarily stored, sorted out, and organized for printing inthe correct real time sequence.

Yet another primary object of this invention is to provide a systemwhich is able to keep up with a very fast paced broadcast sequence byfaithfully printing all of the information from the variousprogram-material sources without loss of information, while at the sametime using a conventional printer whose printing rate is very muchslower than the rate at which data characters to be printed are oftenread into the logger. Basically, the problem results from the fact thatthe information tends to enter the logger in bursts, even though theremay also be relatively long times between such bursts during which nocharacters arrive, perhaps as much as three or four minutes while amusical selection is being played. in one practical embodiment of theinvention the printer prints only ten characters per second, but theidentification tags are read out at the rate of about I28 characters persecond. Moreover, at certain other times in a program there are manysuch tags read out during a span of only several minutes, for instancewhere the station broadcasts in rapid succession severalspot-commercials followed by station identifcation, followed by a seriesof jingles" and stingers" each of which only lasts for a few seconds butis identified by a l28 character tag which must be logged. Thisinvention employs a number of temporary buffer memory registers andlogic circuitry for organizing the information and presenting it to theprinter in the real-time sequence in which it was broadcast.

The data to be logged includes, for example, fixed data includingreal-time, event number, print control function and indication ofsource, i.e. whether network, studio, or tape machine and which one; andfurther includes variable data read from a tape source which is beingbroadcast to indicate the message content, i.e. commercial content andsponsor, or musical selection and licensing agency, A.S.C.A.P. orB.M.I., etc. Other information to be logged may also include certainfixed messages which are locally generated to indicate source, such asstudio," network" identity, time announcer," station identification whenbroadcast, nature of program content, i.e., non-commercial, news,commercial, special event, contingency, etc. A contingency mode coversunusual situations, perhaps temporarily affecting the station's abilityto meet its obligations, such as a power failure, a failure of thebroadcast transmitter, a special event interruption of the predeterminedsequence, or a failure of a tape to deliver a proper cue signal, whichfailure is detected after a brief interval by a silence detector whichadvances the sequencer to the next event, etc.

It is another major object of the invention to provide the aboveimproved logger and printer system in cooperation with improved meansfor tagging the tapes using a high-speed phase encoding which not onlypacks a very large amount of information into a short tape running time,about 128 eight-bit characters in less than one second, but also usesthe optimum frequency range of the audio tapes and provides a type ofmodulation which is rather insensitive to variations in the play-backspeed or amplitude output from the tape. Moreover, maximum recovery ofinformation despite momentary dropouts in insured by providing asynchronizing signal at the beginning of each new character. Since afull 128 character sequence can be included within one second, it is notnecessary to tag tapes which have no separate cueing channel by loggingover the selections at sub-sonic or supersonic rates. The logging can beplaced between selections, since there is conventionally more than onesecond separation therebetween.

Yet another major object of the invention is to provide means forprinting out natural-language logs which: first, meet the FCC legalrequirements pertaining to station identification records; second,provide proof to the sponsors that their commercials were in factbroadcast including the times thereof and the billing rates applicable;and third, keep full records of all musical selections played includingtheir titles, royalties payable, and the licensing agency to which theyshould be paid. The system can be interfaced with a computerizedbook-keeping and billing system to complete the automation of thestation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the following discussion of the drawings, wherein: pp FIG. I is ablock showing a broadcast station including a logger and printeraccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a drawing showing a typical three-channel cartridge tape witha cue channel recorded thereon;

FIG. 3 is a drawing showing a two-channel reel-toreel or cassette tapewith cue signals and tag signals recorded in its left channel;

FIG. 4 is a drawing showing the message format of the variable-data tagsignals recorded on tape according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a drawing showing a timing pulse series located above atypical eight-bit character with synchronizing bits recorded by highspeed phase encoding as taught by the present invention;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 when read together side-by-side comprise a blockdiagram showing in greater the components of the logger by which thevarious information is sorted out and presented chronologically to theprinter; and

FIG. 9 shows a typical printout log prepared in accordance with thepresent system.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the combination of a typicalbroadcast station and a logger and printer according to the presentinvention. The broadcast station includes a transmitter 10 coupled witha suitable broadcast antenna system 11. The transmitter is fed audio ona wire 12 by a pre-programmed sequence controller 14 which in thepresent example will be assumed to comprise an automation system.

This programmed sequence controller receives input from a number ofdifferent audio sources, various types of which are shown in FIG. 1. Thesources include input from telephone network lines 16 through a networkswitching means 18 which delivers network audio on the lines 20 to theprogram sequence controller 14. The controller controls the networksource lines 16 using its own internal control means. Another source ofaudio comprises a cartridge or cassette machine 24 which, for instance,may be of the popular Carousel" variety including a rotating selectionbin 26 having separate compartments or trays to hold tape cartridgessuch as the cartridges 28. The source 26 is controlled by the programsequence controller 14 by way of the cable 30 which delivers input intothe machine 24 to indicate which tray location is to be played, theaudio then passing through the wire 32 into the program sequencecontroller where it is internally switched onto the audio wire 12 whenthat source is being selected for playing. Although a single cartridgemachine has been illustrated at 24 in FIG. I, it is to be understoodthat there may be more than one, or there may be other types of multipletape cassette or cartridge machines which perform a similar function,and these other machines are interchangeably usable in a broadcast system of the general type being discussed herein.

Another source of taped audio com prises the reel-toreel machine 34having individual tapes carried by reels 36, each tape 38 being startedand stopped by the control cable 40 extending from the programmedsequence controller, and the audio from the tapes 38 being coupled intothe controller 14 on the wire 42 when a reelto-reel machine 34 isselected. The broadcast station also includes a real-time clock 44 whichdelivers time signals on the wire 46 into the programmed sequencecontroller 14 and into the logger unit 50.

The controller 14 can be one of any number of units currently availableon the market for controlling broad cast stations automatically. Forinstance, Model AR 2000 manufactured by the Boradcast Products, Inc., isa unit which performs well in this particular setup. The controller ofthe type to which the present discussion refers is a device whichselects among the various sources such as the typical sources 16, 24,and 34, starting and stopping them and switching them at appropriatesequential times, and in addition indicating which of the variousselections are to be played in the case of machines capable of playing anumber of different recordings, such as the machine 24. The programcontroller 14 ordinarily starts and stops the various sources in thesequence in which they are called for by a preset program, but thecontroller also can use the real time clock input on wire 46 to overidethe sequence set within the controller and make station breaks at thecorrect real time, as well as perform other real time necessities suchas joining the network lines at prescribed moments. The equipmentdescribed todate is widely used in the broadcast industry and forpresent purposes is considered to be the prior art environment to whichthe present logger and printer system is applied.

The logger 50 receives binary real time signals on the cable 46 as oneof its inputs, but it also receives other inputs on the digital dataline 52 coming from the programmed sequence controller 14. This digitaldata includes the broadcast event number (sequential) as well as theidentification of the source which has just commenced for broadcast.Moreover, the logger receives on the lines 54 the identification tagdata taken from the audio channels of the various input sources, for instance from the tapes 38 or from the cartridges or cassettes 28,whatever at the moment is being played. Finally, the cable 53 includes agroup of control and sensor signals delivered to the logger from theprogrammed sequence controller for purposes which will become apparentduring the discussion of FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

In order to understand the manner in which the tapes are tagged, it isuseful to discuss various typical tapes as currently used in theindustry. Such tapes are illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, in which FIG. 2shows a typical three-track cartridge tape and FIG. 3 shows a typicaltwotrack reel-to reel or cassette tape. Referring par ticularly to FIG.2, the tape 60 used in typical cartridges of the type employed to recordentertainment material as well as commercial and functional materialscomprises tracks 61 and 62 on which the material is recorded, frequentlyin stereo. Ordinarily, the leftchannel is on top in the track 61 and theright-channel is below it in track 62. The tape also includes a thirdtrack 63 which is the cueing track, and the industry varies somewhat asto the manner in which cue signals are recorded thereon. However,perhaps the most typical type of cueing includes stop signals comprisinga l KHz audio signal of about one second duration located at thebeginning of each selection, which also serves to stop the tape machinewhen it reaches the leading edge of the corresponding cueing signal ofthe next selection. Moreover, near the end of each selection there is a150 Hz end-of-message tone which usually lasts for about three seconds,this tone being used to control several different functions. The l KHzstop tone is labelled 64 in FIG. 2 and has a leading left-edge which canbe used both to stop the present tape, and also to indicate the start ofthe next selection. The 150 Hz tone lasts about three seconds and isshown at 65 in FIG. 2. The trailing edge 66 of this tone is used to killthe audio output from that tape machine just after the message ends asshown in the drawing by the termination of the signal in the tracks 61and 62. On the other hand, the 150 Hz end-of-message signal has aleading edge 67 which is available to start the next selection chosen bythe sequence controller l4 just before the present message ends whereoverlap of the messages is desired. What has been described to date isprior art.

Between the two tone cueing signals in the track 62 there is aconsiderable span of time, except in the shortest of messages, in whichthe tape can be tagged as to the content of the message. Othermanufacturers have used this space to tag the message using systemsdifferent from the one proposed for the present system, but in generalthe rate at which they have been able to put messages on the tape hasbeen so slow that it has been difficult to get enough characters on thetape to tag a recorded message of brief duration, such as a spot commercial or a station break, and one of the advantages of the presentsystem is the ability to place 128 charac ters on the track 63 within aspan of one second running time of the tape. This tag according to thepresent invention appears at 68. The tag 68 begins about 1.4 secondsafter the stop signal 64 commences, the stop signal being located justahead of the message recorded in the tracks 61 and 62. The tag signalthen lasts about one second, just long enough to get the I28 characterformat recorded thereon, the format being discussed hereinafter inconnection with FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 3 shows a typical reel-to-reel tape 70 which has only two recordingtracks, the upper track 71 serving to record the left-channel sound in astereo system and the right-channel sound being recorded in the track 72below it. There is no third cue track separate from the tracks 7! and 72in this type of tape. The cue signal according to industry standards isgenerally recorded on the left-track 71 either superimposed upon themessage near its end, or else right after the end of the messageappearing in the track 71, and according to industry standards comprisesa 25 Hz tone shown herein is beginning at 73 and ending at 74. Thebeginning of the tone 75 at point x in the track is used to actuate thesequence controller to start the next source, and in the prior artsystems the end 74 of the 25 Hz tone at point y is used to kill theaudio from the present source. Usually there is a delay system in apresent-day reel-to-reel machine which stops the tape just after theaudio source is killed.

According to the present invention, the tag signal is applied just afterthe 25 Hz tone ends, and is labelled with the reference character 76 inFIG. 3. As in FIG. 2, the tag lasts for about one second, and thereforeends at the point z 77 just before the tape reel is actually stopped at78. In general, the delay in the machine is such that the tape actuallystops moving about six seconds after the audio is switched off of theaudio bus at point 74. Since the same sudio head is also used to readthe log contained in the tag 76, the audio from that machine is switchedby the controller 14 into the logger 50 so that the latter will receivethe tag message 76 which is applied to the tape according to theinvention as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

Referring now to FIG. 4, this figure illustrates a typical variablelogging tag format, such as the tag 76 in FIG. 3 or the tag 68 in FIG.2, these tags giving the content of the message with which they areassociated on tape, and other information as follows. The entireduration of the tag 80 shown in FIG. 4 is equal to or less than onesecond, and the tag contains the portion of the information which isvariable and which follows the first 28 characters which comprise thefixed data which, itself, does not come from the tape but from the clock44 and the controller 14. The variable data from the tape includes thecharacters 29 up to I28, but these are not all evenly spaced on thetape. Instead, they are bunched up toward the beginning of the tagmessage on the tape so that they use only as much as the total charactercapability as is necessary to provide all of the information requiredfor that particular tag. At the conclusion of each entry, the tagincludes a tabulating character TAB which then advances the printer tothe next column as will be described hereinafter in connection with FIG.7 which shows a typical printout. The last character in the message isalways a STOP character. In the present example, it is assumed that theprinter 56 comprises a teletypewriter, and therefore the tag 80illustrated in FIG. 4 is designed to cooperate with such a machine.

In starting a new line of print beginning with fixed data, at thebeginning of the message there will appear a carriage return character,followed by a line feed character, followed by a first tabulatingcharacter TAB which then places the carriage in the right position toprint the first series of characters to appear. After the fixed data isprinted in the sequence to be described in connection with FIG. 6, thenvariable data appears as shown in FIG. 4, following a TAB character.This first variable data character group comprises the group NCA enteredfor the purpose of indicating whether or not the following tag refers toa commercial or noncommercial broadcast message. If it is a commercialmessage, the NCA column can be used to activate the automated billingsystem so that it makes an entry to take care of the billing for thecommercial message. After the NCA character group concludes, there isanother tabulating character which moves to the next column for thepurpose of entering a series of characters indicating the content of thetape message in greater detail, for instance, the title of a musicalselection or the content of a commercial message, etc. This message willappear in the space 83, but it may be preceded by a second tabulatingsignal 82 which can cause the content of the message to be indented.This satisfies a rule of the FCC with regard to logging which states ineffect that where material is separately logged within a larger program,it should be indented on the log page so as to distinguish it and makeit clear that the program material being entered was broadcast within ashow whose title appears above. This might be illustrated by a playingof a musical selection within a disc jockey show which is listed at aheading located on an earlier line of the log. After the message hasbeen entered in space 83 of the tag 80, there is another tab signal TABwhich then moves the printer to the next column 84 which indicates theduration of the message in minutes or seconds, for instance, indicatingthat it is a l second commercial or it is a 30 minute variety show, etc.The entry 84 is followed by another tabulating signal TAB which movesthe printer to the column 85 which contains billing material, this entrybeing used to indicate the name of the sponsor and the rate at which theprogram material should be billed. This portion of the tag is of coursevariable to suit individual billing procedures, but any event it isfollowed by a TAB which moves the printer to the column 86. In thiscolumn the program type is listed by encoded letters for showing whattype of show the material was broadcast within, this column beingrequired by the FCC and indicating among other things whether the showis an educational program, a news show, an entertainment show, etc. Thenext TAB character moves on to the column 87 which indicates whether thesource of the show is live, recorded, etc. After the appropriate lettercode has been entered in the column 87, the next TAB signal moves theprinter to column 88 which can be used by the broadcaster for thepurpose of entering such other data as he may wish concerning the sourcefrom which the material was taken. Finally, there is another TAB signalwhich moves the printer to the last print column of the presentillustration, this column being required by the FCC to indicate theclass of information contained within that portion of the tape to whichthe present tag refers. The class of material appears in column 89 andagain includes a code made up of letters to indicate the nature of thecontent of the particular portion of the tape just broadcast. Forinstance, the letters C.A. indicate commercial announcemerit, and thereare a number of other such designations as indicated by the FCC Rulesand by useage in the broadcast industry. The information contained inthe class column 89 differs from the information con tained in the typecolumn 86 to the extent that the type information is used to indicatethe type of overall show in which the material appeared, whereas theclass co1- umn is used to indicate the nature of the materialspecifically referred this by teis tag and constituting only a part ofthe show referred to in the type column. Of course, where the materialreferred to by the present tag is broadcast alone, and not as a part ofa larger show, the type column will be blank. Likewise, when an entry onthe log refers to an overall show rather than to a particularannouncement or selection made during the show, then the class columnmay be left blank. Some of this discussion will be gone over again inconnection with FIG. 9 which is discussed hereinafter.

Referring now to FIG. 5, this figure is used to describe the manner inwhich the tags are encoded upon the tags. Other manufacturers have inthe past encoded tags upon the tapes, for instance, using FSK (frequencyshift keying) encoding in which two tones are employed, one indicating amark and the other indicating a space. This type of recording of thetags suffers from a number of difficulties, most serious of which is theslow speed at which the encoding is accomplished. Where audio tones areused, multiple cycles of each tone are required before the audio deviceswhich sense these tones can operate. If about 5,000 cycles per second isused as the highest tone, this being a practical upper frequency becauseof limitations in response of a tape system, then it requires aconsiderable length of tape in order to record, for instance the I28characters which are recorded using the present novel system. Moreover,two-tone encoding is sensitive to tape variations both with respect tospeed of the tape and amplitude variations which invariably occur whenusing audio tapes because of the fact that their quality is not as goodas digital tapes. The present system seeks to overcome thesedifficulties by using phase encoded direct-digital recording employingreversing square wave levels as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 includes tworelated waveforms as illustrated, the top waveform showing 4 KHz timingmarks which are accordingly spaced by A millisecond. The square wavelevels shown in the waveform below can change at any one of these timingmarks. Each character to be recorded has 8 bits, plus a synchronizationinterval plus one synchronizaton character on each side of the eightbits. For instance, before each character begins there is asynchronization interval comprising 4 negative levels followed by fourpositive levels, the synchronization interval itself being labelled 90in FIG. 5. Immediately following the synchronization interval 90 is anegitive-to-positive synchronization character 91, and thissynchronization character is followed by eight information characters.These characters are finally followed by another negative-to-positivesynchronization character 92. Each one of the information cyclescomprises a two level signal according to standard Manchester encodingin which the transition from positive to negative comprises a binary oneand the transition from negative to positive comprises a binary zero.Thus, in FIG. 5, the first character labelled 93 comprises a binaryzero, whereas the next character, being from positive to negative,comprises a binary one and is labelled 94. The character 95 and each ofthe following characters comprises a binary zero since it is atransition from negative to positive. Thus, the character shown betweenthe two synchronization characters 91 and 92 comprises eight bits asfollows: 01000000.

These various level transitions occur so rapidly that they arethemselves at an audio rate of 2 KHz maximum or I KHz minimum, and aretherefore at a very excellent response frequency for most autio tapes.Accordingly, no carrier frequency is required. The present system puts128 characters on the tape in one second, each character having not onlyeight bits comprising 16 different levels but also comprising twosynchronization characters each having two levels and a synchronizationinterval including eight timing mark intervals as shown at 90. Thus,each character actually occupies 28 timing mark spaces of 250microseconds each as shown in FIG. 5. There are various prior artteachings which appear to broadly resemble this technique but they areessentially digital recording techniques, i.e. as in US. Pat. Nos.3,573,770 and 3,228,016 and 3,237,]76, whereas the present techniqueallows a high speed digital waveform to be generated, recorded andrecovered from a much simpler type of tape transport which is designed,not for digital recording, but for analog recording the audio range.

One of the big advantages of the type of tagging shown in FIG. 5, asidefrom its speed, is that it provides reliable recovery of the informationeven in the presence of tape anomolies such as splices, bits of dust,dropouts, etc. Naturally, where a dropout occurs the information whichwould have been in that portion of the tape is lost, however, in view ofthe fact that each character has its own synchronization interval withit, as soon as the signal from the tape is regained the characters areread reliably, instead of being lost because of loss of initialsynchronization. Other advantages include immunity from tape speedvariations due to the manner in which the waveform is regenerated, andimmunity from the effects of tape said variation which adversely affectprior art frequency shift detection devices. The signal is filteredbefore recording, and then after recovery is filtered just enough toremove high frequency differentiating-kick components, and thereby therecovered signal is nearly sinusoidal. In this way high frequencycomponents which tend to leak between channels of the tape areeliminated. This method of recording of the tags on tapes works verywell on un equalized tapes as well as on equalized tapes.

LOGGER AND PRINTER (FIGS. 6, 7 AND 8) FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show a blockdiagram of the logger system which receives and organizes theinformation, and feeds it to the printer in the proper sequence forprinting. There are several reasons why the information must beorganized and temporarily stored in various memory buffers 200. In thefirst place, the information comes from several different sources, someof it comprising what was referred to above as fixed data which is takenpartly from the programmed sequence control ler 14, for instance thesequential event number arbitrarily assigned to the particular materialbeing logged and the identification of the source of the program material, such as network, reel-to-reel source, or cartridge or cassettesource; and the fixed data also including the time that the source wenton the air as taken from the digital time clock 44. The information tobe logged also includes information referred to above as variable data,this data format being shown in FIG. 4 and being taken mostly from thetapes themselves, for instance, from tags of the type shown in FIGS. 2and 3.

A second reason making it necessary to organize and temporarily storethe information to be printed resides in the fact that the printercannot possibly keep up with the rate at which characters to be printedare received by the logger. The characters can arrive at the logger atthe rate of 128 characters per second, but the printer can only print 10characters per second. Sometimes there will occur three or four eventsin a row, each of which is very brief duration, but each of whichrequires the printing of an entire line as shown in FIG. 9. When thisoccurs, the printer may have more material than it can print in a minuteor more all arriving at the logger within a relatively few seconds.Therefore, the logger shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 includes in theillustrative embodiment six buffer memories which are not onlyaccessible for loading fixed and variable data material thereinto fromdifferent sources, but which also serve to store the data and feed it inan organized manner to the printer as the printer is ready for it and inthe chronological order in which the various events were broadcast.

A third reason for the necessity of organizing and temporarily storingthe material to be printed resides in the fact that the material is notalways read into a buffer to complete its contents in the same sequencein which its source was broadcast. It frequently occurs that a portionof the data to be printed concerning one broadcast event will arrivemixed up time-wise with data relating to another event which iscurrently being broadcast. In other words, the only information whicharrives in the exact sequence in which the events were broadcast is thefixed data comprising the event number and identity of the source andthe real-time at which the broadcast thereof began. The variable datataken from tags of the type shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 arrives at whatevertimes these tags are read into the logger from the various sources, andthese real-time readings may be out of sequence with respect to thebegin times at which the sources were actually broadcast.

In view of the fact that the difficulty involved in organizing thematerial so that each bit of data goes into the same buffer which isstoring other data pertaining to the same braodcast event isattributable to the mixing up sequentially of the various differentsources, such as cartridge sources and reel-to-reel sources whose tagsare not at the same locations on the tapes; the organizing and storingmeans shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 includes certain buffer memory registers201 and 202 which store only data from reel-to-reel machines, and otherbuffer memory registers 203, 204, 205 and 206 which are connected sothat they store only data taken from cartridge machines. The loggersystem also incluqes a priority register 213 serving to remember thesequential order in which the events were actually put on the air, andthis sequence is used by the output logic of the system to deliver thedata, on register at a time, into a final printer buffer which directlyfeeds the printer 56 to print the log shown in FIG. 9. Thus, a number ofbuffer memories are provided which can be accessed selectively andnon-sequentially for entering data, and can then be held for asufficient length of time for the printer to catch up, assuming a suddenburst of input information. As pointed out above, there are long intervals of time during which no information is entered, for instance,during the playing of ordinary recorded musical selections. FIGS. 6, 7and 8 when placed side-byside form a composite diagram showing thelogger and printer, the purpose of which is merely to record the eventsas they happen at the broadcast station under the control either of ahuman operator or of the programmed sequence controller 14 in anautomated station as shown in FIG. 1, and therefore the diagrams shownin FIG S. 6, 7 and 8 have no output except for the printed log sheetwhich is shown in FIG. 9. However, the logger does have a number ofinputs from the various station units shown in FIG. 1, and these inputsall appear along the left-hand margin of FIG. 6. Some of these inputsare taken from the sequence controller 14 and include data showing whichsources originated the program material presently being broadcast, theevent number, and other control and indicating signals as will bediscussed below. The real time at which each event commences is takenfrom the time clock 44, this data appearing on wires 46 at the bottom ofFIG. 6. There are two additional inputs 42 and 32 which appear in thecable 54 near the top of P16. 6 and these inputs respectively comedirectly from the tag tracks of the reel-toreel machines and of thecartridge machines. These two inputs differ from those appearing belowthem on the left-hand margin of FIG. 6 to the extent that the lattercomprise fixed data, whereas the two top inputs comprise variable tagtrack data from the tapes themselves. Each time a new source of programmaterial goes on the air, the system freezes in buffer 107 the time whenit commenced as appears on the clock time bus 46, and also freezes inbuffer 105 the designation of that particular source and itschronological event number assigned by the program sequence controller14, this information appearing on the cable 52. This data is used toestablish the real time sequence in which the programs are to be logged.In FIG. 7 there appear six buffer memories 200 which comprise theregisters 20] through 206 inclusive in which the data for each printedlog is organized. The registers 201 and 202 never record anything exceptreel-to-reel source data, but the registers 203 through 206 inclusiverecord data from all other sources including cartridge sources. One ofthese buffer memories is selected for each new source by the multiplexcircuit 209 each time such a source comes on the air. The holdingregister 211 contains two memory stages which remember the addresses ofthe particular buffer memories now being loaded from current sources,and these addresses are then passed on to the priority register 213which comprises a sift register into which the addresses of the loadedbuffer memories 200 are sequentially entered in the precise order inwhich the those sources went on the air. It is from the priorityregister that the output logic controlling the printing means is able tocause it to print the information contained in the various buffermemories in the exact sequence in which they went on the air.

As pointed out above, the factor complicating the logger circuitry isthat the various sources do not necessarily read out their informationin the same order in which they went on the air, and therefore, thevarious buffer memories will be receiving information nonsequentially.The circuitry shown in FIGS. 6 which serves the purpose of organizingthe input of the data into the correct buffer memories 200 under thecontrol of the input control logic circuit 101, but it is the purpose ofthe output control logic 301, shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and operatingindependently, to retrieve the information for printing by sequentiallyremoving the data from the various buffer memories 200, one completebuffer memory at a time, in the sequence in which the various sourcesrepresented by those memories went on the air.

DATA INPUT TO BUFFER MEMORlES The inputting of data to the buffermemories 200 is considered separately from a subsequent heading relatingto the outputting of data from the buffer memories to the printerbecause of the fact that there is substantially no temporal relationshipbetween the sequence in which the data is input to the memories and thesequence in which it is taken therefrom for the purpose of printing.

Each time the program sequence controller 14 in FIG. 1 starts up a newsource, whether it be a special event, network, cartridge or cassettesource, or reel-toreel source, etc., the program sequence controller 14puts out an MR8 signay on wire 103 indicating a new source has justcommenced, and this source is designated by an encoded designationthereof appearing on the calbe 52. For instance, all of the reel-to-reelsources begin with a zero first digit, their second and third digitsindicating which reel-to-reel machine was started, whereas for cartridgesources the first digit is not zero but indicates which cartridgemachine was selected, and the second and third digits indicate whichtray of that cartridge machine was selected. For instance, thedesignation 217 would indicate that it was cartridge machine No. 2, tray17, that was just selected. Moreover, the real time appears on the cable46 from the clock 44 and indicates real time in hours, minutes andseconds, AM or PM. The MRB signal 103 is delivered to the START of asequence counter 102 and steps it to step No. 1 which delivers an outputto actuate two temporary storage registers 105 and 107 appearing in thefixed data formatter 109. Thus, the designation of the event number andthe particular source just started is frozen in the register 105 and thereal time is frozen in the register 107 and temporarily pre served, i.e.until the next MRB signal freezes new data into these registers. Thesource identifying data is also delivered on cable 111 to a sourcedecoder 113 which decodes the binary indication of the source which hasjust been put on the air and enables one of the wires in the group 115going to a manually presettable plugboard 117. This plugboard has anumber of vertical columns, one for each source represented by one ofthe wires in the bundle 115, and each respective column beingenergizable by the corresponding wire. For instance, if there are 30difierent sources available on this plugboard, the decoder will energizethe vertical column conductor attached to whichever one of these sourceshas just been put on the air. These sourses may for example be thevarious cartridge and reel-to-reel machines, as well as certainnetworks, time announcers, etc. These vertical columns, of which thecolumn 119 is typical actually comprise electrical conductors which passin near proximity to other horizontal row conductors, such as theconductor 12]. There is a hole in the plugboard at each crossing so thatwhen a metal plug is inserted in the hole it contacts that particularvertical column conductor and that particular horizontal-row conductorand connects them together. It is by means of this plugboard thatstation personnel can program in advance what is to be done by way oflogging with respect to each of the individually selectible sources. Forinstance, the top row when energized serves to enable a punch tapemachine, in addition to the teletypewriter printer, whenever thatparticular vertical column has a pin inserted in the top hole, wherebythe information is not only printed in the printer but it also punchdedupon a tape. This is convenient for the broadcast station because itgives a separate record for certain data, for example suitable forautomatic billing of various clients. Thus, a time announcement sourcewhich is unsponsored would not have a pin in the top hole because nobodyis to be billed for making the time announcement, whereas a commercialannouncement taken for example from cartridge source 217, meaningcartridge machine No. 2, tray No. 17, is to be billed to a particularsponsor of that commercial announcement and therefore a pin should beplaced in the top row corresponding with that particular source.

The second horizontal row on the plugboard 117 is used for indicatingthat the particular source is to be fully logged by taking theinformation from the tag track of the tape itself when a pin appears inthe second row. The third row when including a pin indicates that fixeddata only is to be logged, i.e. perhaps relating to a non-taped sourcefor example, this fixed data merely including the time evencnumber andthe source. This might for example be the case where a time announcementwas made, and no other data need be logged because no one is to beeither billed or paid royalities for the time announcement. The fourthrow in this embodiment specifies that this is a reel-to-reel source,whereas the fifth row is used to specify that this is a cartridgesource, and one pin will be inserted in the plugboard 117 if the sourceis indeed ofeither kind. A series of the other rows across the plugboardprovide for a three bit binary indication of a selected one of severalavailable fixed messages which are provided by a prerecorded fixedmessage generator 131. For example, one possible combination of pins ina column and intersecting several fixed message rows might designate oneof the major networks, such as ABC, NBC, CBS or M138, and the fixedmessage generator will then deliver a fixed message indicating that acertain network was on the air serving as that particular source. Otherfixed messages include such possible indications as "time announcer,"power failure, studio program, "special event," or other useful messagessuch as "no data," etc, Thus, each time a source is selected by thesource decoder 113 and one of the vertical source wires is energizedthereby, certain routine steps are called for by the plugboard dependingupon pins which appear in the various holes, as will be furtherdiscussed hereinafter.

Each one of the buffer memories 20] through 206 inclusive comprises aregister capable of accepting l024 bits including data characters,appearing in a sequence which forms a message of fixed format. The firstl6 of these characters comprising the fixed data are formatted by theformatter circuit 109 which sequences these first characters and readsthem into whatever buffer memory 200 is selected by the multiplxer 209at the beginning of a new source in a manner hereinafter to beexplained. The first character in the format is taken from the tophorizontal row of the plugboard 117 and is either a one or a zerodepending on whether a pin is located in the top row or not. If there isno pin in the row, the first character is a zero indicating that thepaper tape punch 350 will not be used to record this data source, but ifthere is a pin in the top row of the plugboard "7 the first characterwill be a one and teis will indicate that the tape punch 350 is to beused. The second and third characters are the hours digits taken fromthe temporary real time storage 107. The fourth and fifth characters arethe minutes digits taken from the register I07, followed by characterssix and seven which show the seconds, followed by characters eight andnine which register either AM or PM as may be appropriate, all takenfrom the real time storage 107 which shows the time frozen at thebeginning of the present source selection. Characters, ten, eleven,twelve and thirteen comprise the event number in thousands, hundreds,tens and units taken from the temporary storage 105. Character thirteenis followed by the source number appearing as characters fourteen,fifteen and sixteen to indicate the identity of the source being logged.Both the event number and the source number come from the register 105.Finally, characters seventeen through one-hundred twenty seven arereserved for printing either the tag data taken from the tape on wires32 or 42, or else for printing one of the various fixed meassagescontained within the fixed message generator 131 as mentioned aboveduring the discussion of the plugboard 117. Such a fixed message isprinted right after the fixed data format, if called for by pins in thebottom three rows of the plugboard. The last designation entered into abuffer memory is always the stop" signal indicating that this is the endof the message contained within that register, and the printer cantherefore stop and become available for the printing of data containedin the next buffer memory to be sequentially printed under the controlof the output control logic 301 which will be discussed in connectionwith FIGS. 7 and 8.

The discussion now turns to a sequential description of the manner inwhich the system performs the logging of each new source whosecommencing is indicated by a new MRB signal delivered to the logger incable 53 coming from the programmed sequence controller 14. This MRBsignal appears on the wire 103 at the lefthand margin of HO. 6 andactuates the sequence counter 102 to move to step No. l and deliver anoutput serving to actuate the two temporary storage registers 105 and107 to freeze the real time at which the new source commended, as wellas the event and source numbers. At this point, the holding register 2!]will still contain in its first stage the address of whichever buffermemory 200 was being accessed for the purpose of storing the data fromthe immediately previous source. If the previous source was a cartridgesource, the data in the buffer memory should already be complete becausethe cartridge source has a separate cue track which is read off near thebeginning of the selection in the cartridge. However, if the priorsource was a reel-to-reel source, the data will not have been read fromthe previous reel at the time that a new MRB signal appears indicatingthe start of a new source, because the data on a reel-to-reel tapechronologically follows the program material. As stated previously,assuming that the first stage of the holding register 211 still containsthe address of the buffer memory selected for the next previous source,this address comprising three parallel digits, in which the first digitwill be a zero if it is a reel-to-reel source or a number if a cartridgesource, it is therefore possible to determine by looking at the firstdigit in the first stage of the holding register 211 whether it is areel-to-reel source or not. The step No. 1 output on wire 108 istherefore connected to a flipfiop 110 which is clocked thereby so thatthe output of the first digit of the holding register on wire 214representing the previous source will move the flipflop to a "set"condition if it is a reel-to-reel source or to an "unset" condition ifit is a cartridge source. In this case assuming that the previous sourceis a reel-to-reel source, the data will not have been read into theassociated buffer memory as of the present time. The discussion of thedelayed entry of the reel-toreel data into the correct buffer appearsunder the subsequent heading entitled "REEL-TO-REEL DATA ENTRY."

Each of the buffer memories 200 has an output from a status bitindicating whether that memory is full or not, these outputs going viathe cable 216 to the multiplexer. In turn, the multiplexer has an outputon wire 2160 indicating the status of the buffer currently selected bythe address appearing in the first stage of the holding register 211.The output on wire 216a goes to an AND gate 135, and if the source was acartridge source, the gate receives an input from the unset" output ofthe flipflop 110. If the signal on wire 216a indicates that the buffermemory is full, then no output will be delivered from the AND gate 135to the fixed message generator 131, this being true because wire 216aindicates that the buffer memory has completed receiving the data fromthat cartridge and is full." On the other hand, if the cartridge of theprevious source has not delivered data to the buffer memory, this factindicates a defective condition because that cartridge has already readout its tag data and it was not delivered to the buffer. Therefore theoutput of the gate 135 is used to drive the fixed message generator todeliver a "no data" output through the multiplexer into the buffermemory of the previous source, thereby completing the buffer memory toshow that no data was in fact received from that particular source. Thisno data" message is followed by a stop character which then completesthe buffer memory by showing that it is full.

A stepper is used to step the sequence counter 102 after it is started,and this stepper now advances the counter 102 to step No.2 which willdeliver an output on wire 134. This output performs several functions.1n the first place, it causes the content of the first stage of theholding register 211 to be shifted into the second stage of the holdingregister 211. Both the holding register and the priority register 213comprise at each stage five parallel bits, three of which hold theaddress of a particular buffer memory 200 containing data from aparticular source, the fourth stage holds a bit indicating whether ornot the silence sensor 13 has operated and the fifth bit holds anindication as to whether the air monitor 15 has concurred. These lasttwo bits will be described hereinafter.

At the same time the content of the first stage of the holding registeris shifted into its second stage, the second stage contents are shiftedinto corresponding five bits of the first stage of the priority shiftregister 213. The shift of information out of the first stage of theholding register is followed by clearing of that first stage. The stepNo. 2 output of the sequence counter 102 on wire 134 is also used toenable the horizontal rows of the plugboard "7 thereby enabling theiroutputs for use by the fixed data formatter 109. This fixed dataformatter is also enabled by the output on wire 134, and it stepsthrough the first 28 digits of the format described above. As a resultof the enabling of the rows of the plugboard 117 by the output on wire134, the rows 132 and 133 are both enabled. Therefore, one of the wires132 or 133 enables either the upper multiplexer circuit 209a if the newsource is a reelto-reel source or the lower multiplexer circuit 209b ifit is a cartridge source, and the enabled multiplexer then steps on tothe next available buffer memory 200 of the appropriate type. When thisbuffer memory is located, its address is delivered upon the cable 218into three digit positions of the first stage of the holding register21]. Thus, at this point a buffer memory of the appropriate type hasbeen selected and its address entered into the holding registers firststage. Now the system is ready to begin taking data from the tag on thesource which was started up concurrently with the latest MRB signal. Thepurposes and functions of the holding registers and the priorityregisters will be further discussed hereinafter. Moreover, the manner inwhich the tag data from a previous reel-to-reel source is entered intothe buffer whose address is now in the second stage of the holdingregister 211 will also be discussed below. Recapitulating, at this pointa new MRB signal has just been received indicating that a new source hasstarted up, and the event number as well as the number of this sourceand also the real time of its commencing are all contained within theregisters and 107. The new source is also decoded by the decoder 113,and in this example it will be assumed that it is a cartridge sourcecorresponding with wire 114. This source energizes the third verticalcolumn of the plugboard 117. The fixed data formatter, having beenenabled by the wire 134, reads out the digits of the fixed data into theselected buffer memory via the cable marked F.D. The first row crossingthe wire "4 has a pin in it thereby entering a "punch" symbol as thefirst digit in the buffer memory. Also, since a cartridge containsinformation to be logged a pin will be in the second horizontal rowindicating that logging is to be carried out. This source has more thanmere fixed data and therefore there will be no pin in the third row. Thesource is not a reel-to-reel source, and therefore, there will be no pinin the fourth row, but since it is a cartridge source there will be apin in the fifth row. Since the cartridge source contains its own data,presumably no fixed message will be necessary in connection with thissource, and therefore the succeeding three rows will all be empty.Conversely, if this had been a source requiring no logging of variabledata, the "log row would not have had a pin in it, and therefore, outputon wire 149 in the cable 116 from the plugboard would have comprised astop" message to the sequence counter causing it to cease further countsand wait to start over again when the next MRB message is received. Thefixed data formatter 109 also delivers to the selected buffer memory theremainder of the fixed data as described above including real time,event number, and source number. The fixed data formatter also deliversa pause signal on wire 109a to disable the stepper 100 until the fixeddata is all entered in the selected buffer memory.

CARTRIDGE SOURCE DATA ENTRY The procedure for entering into the buffermemory 200 data from a cartridge source differs from the procedure forentering date from a reel-to-reel source, and therefore, they will beseparately considered. The fact that there is a pin in the cartridge rowof the patchboard, the fifth row from the top for the source enabled bywire 114, causes the multiplexer 209b to be actuated by the wire 133 tostep through the appropriate buffer memories 203 to 206 to the nextmemory in sequential order, which memory is always presumed to be unusedat the present time or perhaps to contain obsolete data relating to asource which has previously been fully logged. The multiplexer deliversthe three bits indicating which of the buffer memories has been selectedvia the cable 118 into the first stage of the holding register so thatit will contain the address of this particular buffer memory. Moreover,having selected this memory the multiplexer will put out a signal onwire 138 to clear the selected memory of whatever data it previouslycontained.

A program can be interrupted at any time for a special event, andtherefore, when such an event occurs a signal will come true on the"special event" wire SE from the programmed sequence controller 14 incable 53. This special event wire is connected to a circuit 140 which isoperative either to enable an appropriate data gate from a cartridge orreel source, or alternatively to block all such gates during a specialevent. There is a data gate 142 for controlling the flow of reel-to-reeltag data, and there is a data gate 144 for controlling the flow ofcartridge tag data, and these gates are selectively enabled or blockedby the circuit 140 whose several inputs include the special event lineSE and two inputs labelled 146 and 136 from the flipflop circuit 110which indicates whether it was a reel-to-reel source or a cartridgesource which was previously started up. Depending upon the indicationfurnished on wires [46 and 136 in the absence of a special event signalon the wire SE, either the AND gate 142 or the AND gate 144 will beenabled at one of their inputs. There is another enable wire to each ofthe gates 142 and 144 which will be discussed hereinafter.

On the other hand, if there is a special event input on the wire SE thenthe special event wire will block the enabling either of the gate 142 orof the gate 144 by disabling the wires 14] and for the duration of thespecial event and actuating the fixed message generator to enter specialevent" in the selected buffer memory 200. Whichever type of event hasjust started, whether it be a special event or a reel-to-reel orcartridge source, there will be fixed data appearing in the fixed dataformatter 109 and especially in the registers 105 and 107 containing theevent number, the source, and the time that the source commenced. Atthis point, actuated by the wire 134, the fixed data formatter 109 willread out the fixed data from the storage 105 and 107 into themultiplexer which will in turn enter this fixed data into the selectedbuffer memory. The precise format of this fixed data has already beendescribed covering the first 18 characters entered into the selectedbuffer memory 200 in connection with the previous description of thepatchboard 117. The fixed data having been entered into the selectedbuffer memory and the special event wire SE still being unenergized, thesystem will proceed to step No. 3 of the sequence counter 102 as aresult of the "pause" signal being removed from the wire 109a by thefixed data formatter 109. In step No. 3, a signal appears on wire 147which, if no signal appears on the wire SE also entering the generator131, enables the fixed message generator 131 to deliver any fixedmessages which may be called for by the plugboard 117, namely the bottomthree rows thereof whose outputs appear in the wire group 148. Thesefixed messages cover a variety of selectible wordings, some of whichhave already been mentioned including the identifications of the variousnetworks which can become sources, a time announcer, power failure,studio program, etc. These fixed messages, if any, as called for by pinsin the plugboard are then entered through the multiplexer 1119b into thesucceeding character positions of the buffer memory which has beenchosen by that multiplexer. If there are no pins in the plugboardrequiring a fixed message, the system does nothing until the sequencecounter 102 moves on to step No. 4.

If there is no pin in the log" row of the plugboard, after a requiredfixed message has been entered, nothing further is to be done, and astop character from the fixed message generator 131 is entered throughthe multiplexer 109!) into the next character position of the buffermemory 200 and the logging of that source is complete. On the otherhand, if after the fixed message has been entered, there is also tagdata to be logged as indicated by a log pin in the second row of theplugboard l17, then the data from the tag channel of that cartridgesource is logged. It is also possible to have a pin in the third row ofthe plugboard 117 indicating that only fixed data is to be logged, andif this position has a pin in it, the logging will have been completedand a stop character written in the buffer memory following it. In thisevent, there wil be an output on wire 149 from the plugboard cable 16,and this output will pass through an OR gate 150 and stop the counter102 via the wire 104, indicating the log to be fully completed.

However, in this example it will be assumed, since it is a cartridgesource as indicated by a pin appearing in the cartridge row of thepatchboard 117, that the datagate enable circuit will have been actuatedby output on wire from step No. 4 of the counter to enable the input 135to the cartridge data-gate 144. The appropriate variable tag data comesfrom the cartridge decoder circuit 152, which does two things. First,the

decoder includes a circuit 154 which recognizes binary data appearing onthe tag track audio line 32 from the cartridge tape, this recognitionoccurring whenever a new-character synchronizing signal interval 90 asshown in FIG. appears on the wire 32. Thus, each time a new datacharacter is about to begin on the tape, the recognition circuit 154puts out a squelch signal on wire 156, this squelch signal comprisingthe other enabling input to the cartridge data gate 144 which is nowfully enabled. However, the data coming into the cartridge decoder 152on wire 32 is in serial form and must be converted to parallel form.Therefore, the other function performed by the cartridge data decoder152 is to convert the serial data into parallel form, for instance,using a shift register as is well known in the prior art, and thisconverter 157 puts out the tag data in parallel-bit form to the datagate 144, such data being passed therethrough to cable I58. This data isthen read out and entered into the selected cartridge buffer memory 200through the multiplexer 2091:. The data actually read from the tag trackof the cartridge includes a "stop" character at the end of it, and whenthis stop character appears it is read into the buffer memory along withthe other data and comprises the full" entry in that buffer. As aresult, the buffer provides a signal on wire 2160 which is ANDED in thegate 216k with the counter output in step No. 4 to deliver a stop signalthrough the OR gate 150 and wire I04, and the system then stops andwaits for the next MRB signals to arrive.

REEL-TO-REEL DATA ENTRY Going back to an earlier stage in the sequenceof steps, when a new source is started up as indicated by a new MRBsignal starting the sequence counter 102 and delivering output on thewire 103 to freeze the real time as well as the event number and thesource number in the registers 107 and 105. The source decoder 113 thendecodes the frozen source designation on cable Ill and enables one ofthe wires extending vertically from it. In the previous paragraphs itwas assumed to be the wire I representing a cartridge source. Suppose,however, that the new source is not a cartridge source, but is areel-to-reel source as indicated by the enabling of the wire 122.Typically, the plugboard 117 has a plug in the punch" hole in the toprow if there is data to be recorded, and it also has a pin in the log"hole since there is data to be logged from the tape. There is, however,probably no pin in the fixed data only"hole since variable data is to berecorded from the tape, but there will be a pin in the reel-to-reel holein the fourth row since that is the kind of source assumed in thisinstance. Finally, there might be a pin in one or more of the fixedmessage holes.

In step No. l of the counter 102, the output on wire 108 leaves theflipflop 110 unset because the previous source was a cartridge source,but this output also freezes the fixed data, real time, source numberand event number of the new source. Moreover, the reel-toreel outputfrom the plugboard 117 on wire 132 actuates the multiplexer section 209ato select one of the two selectible buffer memories 20] or 202. Sincethere are only two such memories the multiplexer first checks memory 201to determine whether or not it is "full," again this determination beingentered into the multiplexer by the wires 216. If the buffer memory 201is full, the multiplexer then checks buffer memory 202.

One or the other of these buffer memories should always be available inview of the fact that the reel sources are not expected to follow eachother in rapid sequence in normal broadcasting, as is often the casewith cartridge sources, which may include quick stingers and briefannouncements or commercials sometimes appearing in very rapidsuccession. However, if both registers are full, then there is anabnormality and in order to prevent the system from being hung-up atthis point the register A is arbitrarily selected and cleared via wire138 from the multiplexer. The stepper then steps the sequence counter102 on to step No. 2, which energizes the wire 134. Whichever of theseregisters is selected by the multiplexer, however, its ad dress isentered in the first stage of the holding register 211 via the cable218, the holding register having just had its first-stage contentstransferred to its second stage as a result of output on the wire I34.Also, while still in step No. 2, the sequence counter 102 also enablesvia wire 134 the fixed data formatter which then proceeds to enter thefixed data comprising the first l 8 bits into the selected buffermemory, including time, event number and source number. However, aspointed out previously, the variable tag data will not be read from thereel-to-reel source until after the next succeeding source is startedup. Therefore the step No. 2 output on wire 134 is ANDED in gate 123with the reel-toreel output on wire 132 and with the next stepper 100output to send a pulse through the OR gate 150 and stop the sequencecounter 102. At this point, the data input system remains donnant whilethe reel-toreel source plays its complete selection, but it is actuatedby the next MRB signal entered into the system which again moves thecounter 102 to step No. I, thus energizing the wire 108. This time, thewire I08 clocks the flipflop to set" condition because the address ofthe prior source was reel-to-reel as indicated by the first digitappearing on wire 214, being a zero. The flipflop 110 therefore puts outan output on wire 146 which drives the enabling circuit to enable thereelto-reel gate 142. The reason that this succeeding MRB signal is usedto ultimately enable the gate I42 is that the presently runningreel-to-reel source does not read out its variable data from the tag endof its track until after the next source has actually started. Thereel-toreel data appearing on the cable is then entered through themultiplexer into the buffer memory 201 or 202, whichever one has beenselected by the multiplexer. This data is taken from audio channel 42 ofthe reel-to-reel source through the reel-to-reel decoder 162 whichincludes two functions: the first comprising a recognition circuit 164for recognizing the synchronization interval 90 shown in FIG. 5 at thebeginning of each character and putting out a squelch signal on the wire166 which enables the other input to the AND gate 142, and the secondfunction being a serial-toparallel data converter 167 which converts thecode shown in FIG. 5 into parallel characters to be recorded in thebuffer memory. As stated above the last character recorded in the datatag channel is a stop character, and this character is delivered when inthe buffer memory 200 via the cable 216 to the multiplexer 2090 todisconnect that buffer memory. When the enable data circuit 140 puts outa signal on wire 14! for enabling the aforementioned data gate 142, thesignal on wire 14] also goes to a 20 second timer whose purpose is todetermine after that interval whether or not data has actually beentaken from the reel-to-reel source tag track or whether for some reasonor other the data has failed to come through. If after 20 seconds nodata has been recognized coming from the serial-to-parallel converter167 as determined by integrating circuit 169, an output appears from thecircuit 169 on the wire 170 and this output is delivered back to theenable circuit 140 to close the gate 142, and it is also delivered tothe fixed message generator causing it to write a no data" fixed messagein the buffer register 201 or 202, whichever is currently beingaddressed. Incidentally, since the next source will have started upbefore the data is read into the register 201 or 202 from the previousreel-to-reel source, the latter source will now have its addressappearing in the second stage of the holding register 211.

The important thing to notice is that, although the input control logicsystem has entered the data relating to any particular source which hasbeen run into any one of the buffer memories assigned to that type ofsource, it has entered the addresses of those memories into the holdingand priority registers in the precise chronological sequence in whichthe sources were run; and, conversely, that the output control logic 30]removes this information from the buffer memories one at a time in thesame sequence in which the addresses of those registers are sequentiallypassing through the holding register stages and the priority registerstages, which are about to be described. In this way, information can berandomly entered in various buffer memories 200, even out of thesequence in which the sources were started, but it is always read out ofthese buffer memories by the output logic control 301 by selecting thebuffer memories in the succession in which the sources were actuallystarted as preserved in the priority register.

The holding registers 211 and priority registers 213 both have twoadditional bits in each stage, one of which is used as hereinafterexplained to indicate whether the silence sensor 13 was actuated, andthe other being used to indicate whether the program actually went onthe air or not as determined by the air monitor 15. The silence sensor13 in FIG. 1 is contained within the programmed sequence controller.This sensor monitors the audio channel 12 going to the transmitter andis responsive to periods of silence exceeding three seconds after a newsource starts up, such silence being attributable to a variety ofsources, for example, such as a broken tape. The silence sensor signalappears on the wire SS and is delivered directly into the holdingregisters first stage to access the silence sensor bit by entering ahigh signal therein when silence on the audio channel is sensed.Likewise, the system includes an air monitor 15 shown in FIG. 1 andcomprising a separate receiver which actually receives the broadcastprogram of the station through the air. If the station fails tobroadcast the subject matter of the present source, the air monitor willdetect such failure and will put out a signal on the wire labelled AirMon, and this signal will be fed directly into the appropriate bitposition of the first stage of the holding register 211 to raise thelevel of the air monitor register bit thereby indicating such failure.These two bits are transferred along with the address bits through bothstages of the holding register and then into the priority register wherethe output logic will recover them as will be described shortly.

DATA OUTPUT FROM MEMORIES TO PRINTER As pointed out above, there is verylittle relationship between the time when the output control logic 301takes the contents of a buffer memory for the purpose of printing it,and the time when the input control logic 101 loads the buffer memory.Generally speaking, a buffer memory is loaded whenever the informationwhich belongs in that memory is being read off of a tape track as tagdata or when it is emanating from another source such as the fixed dataformatter 109 or the fixed message generator 131. Conversely, a buffermemory is read out to the printer whenever the printer has completedprinting of the data taken from the next previous buffer memory andwhenever the next buffer memory is actually ready for readout because itis tagged full.

The priority register 213 actually includes five parallel shiftregisters 221 through 225, each having eight successive bit positions.The first three parallel bits are used as the addresses of the buffermemories 201 through 206, the fourth bit is the silence sensor bit andthe fifth bit is the air monitor bit. All five of these registers arecirculated through a return loop 226, and the writing into theseregisters, the reading out of their content, and the eliminating of datawhich is obsolete all take place incident to the circulation of theircontent. The stepping of these registers 213 through their eightpositions is controlled by the clock 228 shifting the register throughthe AND gate 229 and OR gate 230. The clock 228 also pulses adivided-by-sixteen counter 227. The first eight counts of the clock 228usually circulate the registers 221 through 225 completely through theireight bit-positions starting in an initial position and ending in thesame position so that the data in the 5 parallel registers all shifts tothe right through the loop 226. After these first eight counts, 0-7 inthe counter 227, an output comes true on wire 227a in the last stage ofthe counter which signal persists for the next eight clock pulse counts8-15, and this output blocks the AND gate 229 causing the priorityregister 213 to stop shifting and pause for eight counts. Thus, theregisters 213 alternately shift for eight clock pulses and then pausefor eight clock pulses.

During the pause interval of 8 clock pulses when the wire 227a is true,the AND gate 231 is enabled as well as the AND gate 233 so that newparallel date from the dable 2110 can pass through the AND gate 233 intothe left stages of the registers 213 via the OR gate 238, and be clockedinto the first stages of the register 213 by the next pulse on wire 134which also actuates the holding register 211 stages to shift right. Thispulse enters through the AND gate 231 and the OR gate 230 and shifts theregisters 213 one position to the right. Because of the above sequencein which data is entered and because of the way in which data is deletedfrom the registers 213, as will presently be discussed, after it is readout to the printer system, the first data positions of the register 213are empty, and the remaining data in the register 213 is crowded towardthe left-hand end thereof.

New data is read into the register 213 only while it is in a pausestate, the AND gate 229 being blocked. Conversely, data in theright-most occupied bit position of the register 213 is only read out tothe output circuit 234 during the eight clock pulse intervals betweenpauses when the AND gate 229 is not blocked and the register 213 iscirculating through the loop 226. During these 8 clock pulses the datashifts right, and since it was initially crowded toward the left,several shifts usually occur until an occupied bit position isrecognized by the output circuit 234, which recongizes an address in theregister 213 because not all five register bits are zeros. When anaddress is recognized, an output on wire 236 actuates the circuit 239and the address is delivered from the circuit 234 to the circuit 239which compares it with indications appearing on the wires in the cable216 to determine whether or not the corresponding buffer memory 200 istagged full." If the address corresponds with a cartridge source, thebuffer memory should already be full, but if the address correspondswith a reel-to-reel source, then the addressed buffer memory may stillbe waiting to be filled. If it is tagged full, an output appears on wire240 and enables the AND gate 303, and the address is delivered from thewires 235 via the wires 305 to the selector circuit 307 which serves thepurpose of selecting that particular buffer memory and passing itscontent through to the printer register 309, which is the last registerto hold the data prior to actual printing thereof. The output on wire240 also actuates the printer control circuit 316 to deliver a printerbusy" signal on wire 351. Moreover the output on the wire 240 alsoblocks the AND gate 237 during that one clock pulse interval and therebymomentarily interrupts the recirculation loop 226 so that the data inthat position of the register 213 is lost and its position in the shiftregister becomes all zeros. On the other hand, if the particular buffermemory register 200 which is being addressed is not yet full," as mayvery well be the case where a reel-to-reel source has not yet finishedplaying the material recorded on the tape prior to the data tag, thenthe wire 240 fails to come true to enable the gate 303. The output onwire 236 when unaccompanied by output on wire 240 actuates AND gate 250to set a flipflop 252 which puts out an output on wire 254 through theOR gate 352 to inhibit the recognition circuit 234 for the remainder ofthe eight shifts and until the next pause signal on wire 227a resets theflipflop 252, which thereby permits the register 213 to go on shiftingto the right through the remainder of the eight positions until itreturns by circulation to its initial position, where it pauses foreight clock pulses. After the pause the circuit 239 tries again asoutlined above to find that same buffer memory full" during the nextrecirculation. This continues until that buffer memory is tagged "full,"and then the gate 303 is enabled so that the content of the selectedbuffer memory is transferred to the printer register 309. Wheneventually the transfer is made, the signal on the wire 240, which is ofone clock count duration, blocks the AND gate 237 for that one count,thereby deleting the just-used address from the circulating data in thepriority register 213.

Each time an output appears on wire 240, the printer puts out a signalon wire 351 indicating that it is busy and cannot accept more data, andthis output is introduced through the OR gate 352 to inhibit therecognition circuit 234 and cause the addresses in the priority register213 to keep recirculating without effect until the printer is ready forthe next source-data to be taken from a buffer memory.

Going back to the situation where the memory 200 whose address appearsat the AND gate 303 is tagged full," the selector circuitry 307, being asimple switching arrangement, switches to the addressed buffer memory201 through 206 and thereby couples the output of that addressedregister into the memory 309. This register then retains the data to beprinted until called for, at which time a converter 31] converts thisdata to the proper encoding for the particular printer machine beingused. This printer may typically be of the teletypewriter variety,although not necessarily, and in the particular embodiment currentlymanufactured it comprises a printer made by EIA, Electronic IndustriesAssociates, which is a standard type of machine requiring eight parallelinput lines 314 containing encoded data.

The printer can accept data from the converter 311, or from the last twobit-positions of the priority registers including a silence sensor bitand an air monitor bit. However, the necessary functional informationsuch as line feed, tabulating signals, punctuation, and stop signals aregenerated in the printer control circuit 316 which includes a locallyclocked counter, also delivering clock signals on wire 318 to theprinter register 309 to clock its output. The printer control 316 uses afixed internally-sequenced printing format as follows:

The printing format in its first step takes from the printer register309 its first data character indicating whether or not to also turn on apaper tape punch machine 350. If so, it outputs an enabling signal onwire 319, and the paper tape punch machine then records data from theconverter circuit 311 appearing on the wires 314. The printer control316 then locally generates a carriage return and a line feed signal.Next, it clocks the two hours characters from the printer register 309,locally inserts a colon, clocks the two minutes characters from theregister 309, inserts another colon, and clocks the two secondscharacters followed by AM or PM into the printer. The printer control316 then locally generates a TAB signal which moves the carriage to thenext column, whereupon it takes the four characters representing theevent number from the printer register 309 and prints them, followed bya locally generated dash, followed by the three characters representingthe source number which it clocks from the printer register 309. Next,it locally generates another tab signal which moves the carriage to thenext column position. In this column position, the print control checksthe silence sensor bit taken on wire SS from the output circuit 234 ofthe priority register 213, and it either enters an X or leaves thiscolumn blank. It then 10- cally generates another TAB signal and moveson to the next column, wherein it checks the AIR MON.bit taken from theoutput circuit 234 of the priority register 213, and again either entersan X in that column or leaves it blank, depending upon whether theprogram has failed to be broadcast, or not. If the printer is soequipped, a failure as indicated by an X in the AIR MON column can alsoshift the printing ribbon to red. The printer control 316 then generatesanother internal TAB signal, and proceeds then to clock out the variabledata or fixed message data content remaining in the printer register 309until it is all read out and printed. At this point, the "printer busy"signal disappears from the wire 351, and the priority register circuitry213 begins searching for the chronologically-next buffer memory addressto start the process all over again.

Referring now to FIG. 9, this figure shows a page of a log printed outaccording to the present invention to show a sequence of typical programevents. The events listed in the first two columns on the left areso-called fixed data events, fixed in the sense that they are not takenfrom the tapes themselves, but instead are taken from fixed circuitryincluding an event counter located within the programmed sequencer 14and indicating the events in the sequence of their occurrence. Theillustrated log in the first column lists the real time taken from thedigital clock 44. In the second column it lists the events I001 throughll9. Next to each event listing there is a dash followed by a threedigit number indicating the source which the sequencer has enabled inorder to deliver that event. The source listing is three digits, ofwhich the first indicates the source machine itself and the second andthird digits indicate the particular position within that source. Forexample, sources listed as 101+ are the station's own identificationtape also including time announcements, whereas the source 401 may bethe fourth cartridge machine, other machines being represented assources whose first digit is 0, 2, 3, or 5. Thus, the material in thefirst two columns of FIG. 9 comes from the sequencer 14 itself. Thematerial appearing in the third column is from the silence sensor 13 andwill comprise either an X or a blank. The fourth column is the airmonitor column which also will either be blank or else include an X toindicate a failure. The material appearing in the other columns to theright of the first four columns comprises material from the fixedmessage generator 13] or from the tape tags, for instance, as shown inFIG. 4. The column 91 corresponds with material taken from the tapeposition 81 shown in FIG. 4. This column is headed with the letters NCAand serves to indicate the type of program for billing purposes. In theevent that the tag which is read from a tape is to actuate an automaticbilling machine, the information listed in the column 91 can also serveto turn on an automatic billing machine to take down the entry forbilling purposes. On the other hand, if the NCA column 91 is blank thenthe billing system will remain dormant, and the information will simplybe printed in the logger.

The column 92 corresponds with the tag position 83 and states thecontent of that portion of the program. Moreover, if it is sponsoredcontent, the name of the sponsor is printed in the log after a slantbar. This portion of the message is of course variable in length. Italways starts, however, at one of two possible positions in the column83. The TAB signal appearing right after the position 81 of the tag inFIG. 4 moves the printout carriage to the position just within thecolumn 93. However, if the tag also includes a TAB signal in theposition 82, then the material in the column 93 will be furtherindented, for instance, as shown in the 3rd through 12th rows in thecolumn 93. Such indentation indicates that the material printed thereinis part of the unindented program located in the column just above, forinstance in the third row in column 93. After the program contentmaterial and possible sponsor's name have been printed, the next column94 includes a twodigit number indicating the number of seconds ofduration of the message which is located in that particular row. In thefifth row, the eye-shadow commercial is 30 seconds long. However, itshould also be noted that the 15 minutes referred to at the end of thethird entry in column 93 indicates in minutes the duration of that wholeprogram including the individual program events indented thereunder.Column 95 serves to list for billing or crediting purposes the variousevents of the show which require either billing or else the payment ofroyalties. For instance, in the fourth row a musical selection isplayed, and the licensing agency for that particular selection is BM].The billing information is repre sented by some arbitrary codeillustrated by the indication 3A35. Thus, the musical selection playedwill be automatically listed in such a way as to facilitate the paymentof royalties due for putting that musical selection on the air.Conversely, on the 5th line in column there is indicated a code showingthe sponsor and the billing rate for putting that particular commercialon the air. In this way, all information required for billing aparticular client is contained on this one printout.

Column 96 satisfies an FCC requirement that the type of show should bedesignated in the log, and for this purpose the talk-show listed on the3rd line including the items indented thereunder is listed aseducational, using the letter B, whereas the news show listed on line 14is designated as a news broadcast by the letter N. The source column 97provides an entry of either the letter R representing recorded material,or the letter L representing live material.

Finally, the column 99 is also provided to satisfy an FCC requirementand indicates the class of event given, for instance, it being a liveprogram event PGM or a commercial announcement CA.

The above entries are of course merely illustrative of the type ofmaterial which can be entered into a log, and this typical printout canof course be varied either by adding the information or omitting certainitems as is required to suit the needs of a particular station. Presentworking embodiments of the system have a 128 character capability,whereas the amount of information shown on the most crowded line of theprevious printout still shows only about 60 characters.

The present invention is not to be limited by the illustrativeembodiments, since these embodiments can be varied within the scope ofthe following claims.

I claim:

I. A system for logging data relating to materials which are programmedto sequentially emanate from plural sources, the sources beingidentified by data and commencing their materials at successivereal-time moments which are also identified by data, and some of thesources, reading out tag data concerning their ma terials, the systemcomprising:

a. plural buffer memory means each capable of storing the data to belogged with respect to one source;

b. buffer-input multiplexer means operative when actuated to select anavailable buffer memory means;

c. priority register means;

d. input means responsive to the commencing of a new source to actuatethe multiplexer means to select a buffer memory means, to enterreal-time data and source identification data therein, and to store inthe priority register means the address of that buffer together withpreviously-selected buffer addresses chronologically in the sequence ofsource commencements;

. means for entering in the selected buffer memory means any tag dataread out from the corresponding source;

f. means for logging the data which is stored in the buffer memorymeans; and

g. buffer output means operative to couple to the logging means the datafrom the buffer memory means

1. A system for logging data relating to materials which are programmedto sequentially emanate from plural sources, the sources beingidentified by data and commencing their materials at successivereal-time moments which are also identified by data, and some of thesources, reading out tag data concerning their materials, the systemcomprising: a. plural buffer memory means each capable of storing thedata to be logged with respect to one source; b. buffer-inputmultiplexer means operative when actuated to select an available buffermemory means; c. priority register means; d. input means responsive tothe commencing of a new source to actuate the multiplexer means toselect a buffer memory means, to enter real-time data and sourceidentification data therein, and to store in the priority register meansthe address of that buffer together with previously-selected bufferaddresses chronologically in the sequence of source commencements; e.means for entering in the selected buffer memory means any tag data readout from the corresponding source; f. means for logging the data whichis stored in the buffer memory means; and g. buffer output meansoperative to couple to the logging means the data from the buffer memorymeans whose address appears chronologically next in said priorityregister means.
 2. The system as set forth in claim 1, wherein saidinput means and said entering means also include means responsive to thecompletion of input of all data concerning a particular source into itsselected buffer memory means to tag the latter ''''full; '''' andwherein said logging means includes means for indicating when it hascompleted logging of all data stored for a previous source; and thebuffer output means is responsive to the logging means having completedlogging of the data concerning the previous source and to the nextsource being tagged ''''full'''' to couple the buffer memory meanscorresponding with the next source to the logging means.
 3. A system forproviding a printed log of program materials which are actuallyboradcast by a broadcast station, wherein the logging system is suppliedwith data identifying the various sources and indicating the real timesat which each commenced and wherein at least some of said sourcescomprise recorded program material including tag data read out eitherduring or after the program material, the system comprising: a. firstand second data receiving means, the first means being connected toaccept data from sources which read out their data after the programmaterial and the second means being connected to accept data fromsources which read out their data during the program material; b.multiple first and second buffer memory means respectively connectibleto said first and second data receiving means for storing data to belogged and relating to a time of commencement, the source, and theidentity of the materials relating thereto; c. first and secondbuffer-input multiplexer means, the first multiplexer means beingoperative when actuated to select one of said first buffer memory meansand connect it to receive data from the first data receiving means, andthe second multiplexer means being operative when actuated to select oneof said second buffer memory means and connect it to receive data fromthe second receiving means; d. input-logic means operative in responseto the commencement of a new source to actuate the appropriatemultiplexer means to select a buffer memory means and to enter the timeof commencement data and the identification of source data therein; e.priority register means operative to receive the address of each buffermemory means as it is selected in response to the commencement of a newsource and to preserve these addresses in the chronological order ofsaid commencements; f. printout means for printing data stored in saidbuffer memory means; and g. buffer-output logic means responsive tocompletion of printing of data from one buffer memory means forselecting for output to the printout means the buffer memory means whoseaddress appears chronologically next in said priority register means. 4.The system as set forth in claim 3, including means for manuallypresetting which data is to be input into the buffer memory means foreach of the possible sources of broadcast material and comprising, meansfor decoding source identifying data when a new source commences and forenergizing one input to said presetting means corresponding with thatsource; manually selectible means connected to each of said inputs andoperative to select the various types of data available to be entered inthe buffer memory means selected for that particular source, theselectible data comprising fixed data including time and source data,and comprising variable data including recorded tag data.
 5. The systemas set forth in claim 4, wherein said sources include various recordingplayback means, network program sources, studio sources, time announcerand special event sources, and some of these sources have no tag dataassociated therewith; a fixed message generator operative to generatefixed-message data descriptive of various materials and sources; andsaid manual presetting means being operative when actuated to select oneof said fixed messages to be entered in the buffer memory means togetherwith fixed data.
 6. The system as set forth in claim 5, including timermeans started by the commencement of a new source and timing an intervalwithin which tag data should be received, and means responsive tofailure to receive tag data within said interval to actuate the fixedmessage generator to enter a no-data message in the buffer memory meansselected for that source.
 7. The system as set forth in claim 5, whereinsaid fixed message generator includes the capability of generating dataidentifying networks acting as sources, and local sources such as astudio source, time announcer, and special event sources; and saidmanual presetting means initiating the generation of fixed messagesappropriate to these sources.
 8. The system as set forth in claim 5,wherein said manual presetting means comprises a crossed conductorplugboard in which the conductors in one direction represent variouspossible sources and the conductors crossing them in the other directionrespectively represent the various selectible data that can be enteredinto the buffer memory means.
 9. The system as set forth in claim 4,wherein said broadcast station includes a silence sensor operative todeliver a failure signal responsive to failure of audio supplied from asource, and further includes an air monitor operative to deliver afailure signal responsive to failure of the broadcast statIon toactually transmit material from a source, said failure signalscomprising additional data to be logged, and the system having storagemeans for storing such failure signals and accessible to the printoutmeans for logging such failure when logging other data relating to thesame source.
 10. The system as set forth in claim 4, wherein the manualpresetting means includes means indicating a source in which the tagdata is read out after the program material and means responsive theretofor actuating the first multiplexer means to store that data in a firstbuffer memory means, and the system storing all data relating to othersources via the second multiplexer means in the various second buffermemory means.
 11. The system as set forth in claim 10, including meansfor tagging each buffer memory means ''''full'''' when the data relatingto the source for which it was selected is completely entered therein;and said output logic means including means for sequentially advancingthe buffer memory addresses contained in the priority register means andchecking the corresponding buffer memory means to determine when thesequentially-next buffer memory means is tagged ''''full;'''' and meansto delay selection for output to the printout means of the sequentiallynext memory means until it is tagged ''''full.''''
 12. The system as setforth in claim 11, wherein said priority register means is a circulatingloop shift register, said means for scanning the buffer memory addressesincluding means for circulating the addresses therein and for openingthe loop to delete an address when the corresponding buffer memory meanshas been read out for printing of its contents.